NEBRASKA STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY MANUSCRIPT FINDING AID
RG2707.AM: United Presbyterian Church (Murray, Neb.)
Records: 1860-1961
Murray, Cass County, Neb.: Presbyterian church
Size: 5 volumes on 1 reel of microfilm
BACKGROUND NOTE
By appointment of the United Presbyterian Church, missionary Thomas McCartney came to Rock Bluff in Cass County of the Nebraska Territory in July of 1860. In August of that year, he formed a congregation of local residents, calling the church “The United Presbyterian Congregation of Rock Bluff.” Services were held in the local schoolhouse until February 1862, when a church building was opened.
In 1878 church members decided to relocate the church “to some central point on the prairie.” The Rock Bluff church building was dismantled and moved to nearby Fairview, on land donated by James Walker. In January of 1879, the congregation’s name was changed to “Pleasant Hill United Presbyterian Church,” and again to “Fairview United Presbyterian Church” in March of that same year. The name was again changed to “Murray” in 1892 “to avoid confusion,” after the town had been named Murray in 1884 in honor of the church’s long-time pastor, George L. Murray.
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
This collection consists of five volumes of church and session records arranged chronologically from 1860 to 1961. Records of the Presbyterian Church in Rock Bluff and Fairview are included in the collection. The Rock Bluff, Fairview and Murray congregations were apparently combined until 1878 when the newly organized Fairview congregation “proceeded to tear down the old Rock Bluff church building and rebuild the new church.”
The material relates to the activities of the Presbyterian church in Cass County, Nebraska. The records were microfilmed in January of 1964.
DESCRIPTION
Reel 1
Volume
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- Session records of the Rock Bluff, Fairview, and Murray, Nebraska, United Presbyterian Congregation, 1860-1895
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- Minutes – Fairview, Nebraska Congregation, 1879-1914
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- Session Minutes – Murray, Nebraska Congregation, 1895-1916
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- Register – Murray, Nebraska Congregation, 1916-1961
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- Session Minutes – Murray, Nebraska Congregation, 1916-1954
ADDED ENTRIES:
Cass County (Neb.) — Churches
Fairview (Neb.) — Churches
Murray (Neb.) — Churches
Presbyterian Church in Nebraska
Rock Bluff (Neb.) — Churches
United Presbyterian Church (Murray, Neb.)
Revised 08-13-2008 TMM